On April 12, 2024, the 11th Northeast Asia Community Forum, jointly organized by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Shenyang and Liaoning Branch of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade was successfully held in Shenyang. Themed ‘Exploring Economic Cooperation between ROK and the Three Northeast Provinces in the Future’, the forum aimed at delivering on the strategy of ‘promoting high-level opening up to the outside world’ and continuously promoting economic and trade exchanges between ROK and China. The forum also explored future cooperation between ROK and the three northeast provinces in the fields of macroeconomics, agricultural products, start-ups, and hydrogen energy in the future. Yu Miaojie, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee and President of Liaoning University was invited to attend the forum and delivered a keynote speech titled ‘How to View and Act on China’s Economy.

President Yu Miaojie noted that being the second largest economy in the world, China is faced with both a complicated international environment and arduous development tasks. Against this backdrop, it is likely to be confronted by supply shock, demand weakness and expectation reduction. Having said that, China has embarked on a new trajectory featuring high-quality development. In this process, it is important to adhere to the new development philosophy to overcome these challenges. He also added that in the bigger picture of economic development, Chinese enterprises should not only ‘go out’, but also ‘go deep’ and ‘go to a higher level’. As opening to the north is particularly emphasized in this year’s government work report, the Northeast region in China will become a new bridgehead under this initiative. He called on everyone to come to Liaoning Province and Northeast China, believing that the economy in the Northeast region and China will enjoy better performance. Northeast Asia will also enjoy a brighter future.

During the forum, President Yu Miaojie and Professor Keun Lee from the Department of Economics of Seoul National University answered questions from the audience on the economic interactions between ROK and the three northeast provinces in 2024.

President Yu Miaojie also met Pang Baoguo, President of Liaoning Branch of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. Pang Baoguo welcomed Yu’s participation at the forum and expressed his thanks for Yu’s contribution to the local development of Liaoning Province as a top economic expert in China as well as the expert and intelligence support to economic and trade organizations provided by Liaoning University. The two sides reached a consensus on future mutual support and cooperation in the trade field and discussed the prospect of Liaoning’s economic development.

Heedeok Choi, Consul General of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Shenyang, Deun-uk Ha, Deputy Consul General of the Consulate General, Pang Baoguo, President of Liaoning Branch of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Zhang Jian, Vice President and Chen Shiqing, Vice President of the branch, Hanseok Lee, Director of Incheon Creative Economy Innovation Center, Park Jin-nan, Project Director of Korea Energy Technology Evaluation Institute, He Guangli, Chief Expert of National Energy Group, and representatives of trade enterprises and research institutes in ROK and Liaoning Province attended the forum.